| | DENVER -- Ron Mercer and Chauncey Billups have been shipped
off to Orlando in a trade that Denver Nuggets general manager Dan
Issel insisted he didn't want to make but which, at the same time,
improves his team.
The NBA gave approval on Tuesday to the five-player deal that was first reported on Monday night.
The deal sends Mercer, Billups and former Magic first-round pick
Johnny Taylor to Orlando for forward Chris Gatling, guard Tariq
Abdul-Wahad, a future first-round draft pick and an undisclosed
amount of cash.
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Analyzing the trade
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Orlando has finally found someone to take the place of Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson, and the organization has wanted him for awhile. It's a very good building block for them, a future nucleus. He's 23 and they will pay him the $70 million max. Denver wasn't going to do it. People think Mercer's selfish, but in the right system he's an outstanding player. And what good shooting guard isn't selfish?
Mercer was the key to the deal, but Denver does get Gatling in their push for the playoffs. Gatling is seen as a cancer, but he can score off the bench and gives them depth. He's worth between $4-5 million next year and Denver could still move him. Billups will back up Darrell Armstrong at the point in Orlando next season.
--Mitch Lawrence |
The Nuggets were pushed to deal Mercer before the NBA trading deadline rather than risk losing him this summer in the free-agent market.
"The trade has been consummated and it's exactly as reported," Issel said Tuesday. "Tariq and Chris will be here (Wednesday) morning and hopefully be in uniform (Wednesday) night (against Milwaukee here)."
Mercer, the Nuggets' leading scorer this season with an 18.3
average, told the Nuggets when he was acquired in a trade with
Boston last August that he wanted a contract extension or he would
pursue free agency after the season. No agreement was reached.
"Mercer is a bona fide player who you can draw plays up for and
get him the ball," Magic coach Doc Rivers said before playing New
York on Tuesday night. "He's a big addition."
Issel said he felt pressured to make a deal "because of our
understanding about what Ron was expecting at the end of the year.
If we couldn't do that, then it might be best for us to look for a
deal, so that's what we did."
He said the franchise "can't let a talent like Mercer go
without getting something in return. The Nuggets let that happen
with Dikembe Mutombo and with Antonio McDyess. We couldn't let it happen again."
| |  | |
| Billups |
| |  | |
| Mercer |
His real regret, Issel said, was trading Billups, a native son
who starred at Denver's George Washington High School and at the
University of Colorado.
"I feel good about everything but trading Chauncey Billups,"
Issel said. "I love Chauncey, not only as a basketball player but
more as a person. Having to trade Chauncey to get the deal done is
one of those things that is not very palatable."
Billups' season ended in December following surgery for a
dislocated left shoulder.
Issel left open the door to reacquiring Billups after the
season.
"He's property of the Orlando Magic, and I certainly don't want to get into a tampering situation," Issel said. "But we'll see
what the future brings."
Mercer, Billups, Taylor and Abdul-Wahad all will be free agents this summer.
Orlando is expected to use Billups and Taylor to free salary-cap room at season's end to pursue such possible free agents as San
Antonio's Tim Duncan, Detroit's Grant Hill, Toronto's Tracy McGrady
and Charlotte's Eddie Jones.
Despite his reluctance to make the deal, Issel said it makes the Nuggets "a better basketball team today than we were yesterday. Gatling gives us another low-post scorer, which is something we need. Tariq us somebody who's going to defend and rebound. He's a lot like a young Bryant Stith. I think it helps us in the short
term. Down the road, who knows?
"Tariq is a free agent after this year. We would certainly want to re-sign him if we can. Chris has another year on his contract."
Nuggets players reacted with shock to the trade news, hinting that it breaks up their team chemistry.
Guard Nick Van Exel called a players-only meeting Tuesday
morning.
"We realized that this can affect us in one of two ways,"
Stith said. "Either we can continue to push forward because this
is a pivotal point in our schedule as we try to get to .500 and
make a run for the eighth playoff spot. Or we can feel sorry for
ourselves and go in the tank. I don't think we would rather do the
latter, because we have a lot of talent in this locker room."
Nuggets forward George McCloud, who criticized Mercer earlier in
the season for shooting too much, said he felt "sorry for the guys
that left. We had bonded and had a friendship. That's the tough
part of this business. Dan thought this move would make our team
stronger and better. We have to make it work."
Stith said Gatling is a "very physical, strong player. I don't
know if he's going to provide the scoring punch that Ron did, so
it's going to have to come from the rest of us in this room to fill
that void -- myself, George, Nick and Antonio."
The 6-foot-10 Gatling, a 1997 All-Star when he averaged 19.0 points and 7.9 rebounds with Dallas and New Jersey, ranked second on the Magic this season in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (6.6). Gatling, 32, now is playing for his seventh NBA team.
The 6-6 Abdul-Wahad, 25, was averaging 12.2 points and 5.2
rebounds.
Taylor, on the injured list since Nov. 14 with tendinitis in his
left knee, has played only five minutes this season.
The first-round pick the Nuggets received was the one they gave up in a trade with Orlando for Keon Clark and Taylor in January 1999. | |
ALSO SEE
Issel signs 4-year deal to stay as coach, president of Nuggets
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Chris Gatling looks on the bright side of being traded.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tariq Abdul-Wahad concentrates on what he has to do as a player.
wav: 55 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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